Test the Limits, and Break Through
by A Mad Girl without a Box
Summary: Two sisters, who suffered years of separation and isolation. This is their life together as they relearn what family is. A series of one-shots featuring Elsa and Anna.
1. A Breakfast Treat

A/N: My first Frozen upload, which will be a series of one-shots or short multi-chapter stories about Anna and Elsa, before, during and after the events of Frozen. I wanted to give them some stories that just focus on them rebuilding their relationship as sisters, that didn't focus on Elsa's powers so much. Hope you enjoy it, and more will be coming soon!

_Written from Elsa's POV…_

The knock on my door shocks me, nearly to the point I fall off my bed. I glance out of my window, the sun barely peeking over the mountains on the horizon. It's very early, too early for the staff to be rapping on my door, unless it was an emergency.

No, I think to myself, they know they can come in immediately if that were the case.

Then who? I rise, waving away the icy patterns that coat my floors and ceilings, both practise of my abilities and a way to pass the time on the days I rise too early to go for breakfast immediately. I pull open the door, both confused and happy at the face I find waiting for me.

"Anna?"

I'm barely out of bed, my nightgown still hanging loosely around me, my hair pushed up out my face and braid over one shoulder. Yet my serial late riser of a sister is fully dressed, hair neat and everything! I peek out of my door, hoping there's no staff patrolling my corridor. Thankfully, there's nobody out there but my little sister, whose carrying a tray of…

"Is that breakfast?" I ask, stepping backwards to allow her to walk into my room, carefully balancing the hot tea and pastries she must have gotten from the kitchens. I can't help but notice how she peers around my bedroom, eager to try and fill the gaps in her knowledge of well… _me_ that 13 years of isolation has left her with. She placed the tray down on my desk, the metal falling with more of a clatter than she intended, judging by her jump at the noise.

"Yeah! I didn't know if you'd be busy with meetings and stuff, so… I thought I'd come with a treat and check and if you're not busy, I thought maybe we could spend the day together? I mean, if you want to be alone today that's totally okay, or if you've got other plans or whatever_" I recognise that she's about to start rambling, her nerves around me sometimes bubbling up when she has a request. I'm thankful it doesn't happen too often these days. I raise my hand to press a finger against her lips, effectively pausing her midsentence.

"Anna. This is lovely. Thank you."

"Is there a 'but' at the end of that?" She mumbles against my finger. I can hear disappointment creeping into her voice, the edges of her smile threatening to dip at the thought of her plans being discarded for my work.

"No! Well, yes, but just a little bit. I do have one meeting today with some honey traders about supplying the Spring Festival, but once that's over, I'd love to spend the day with you."

"Yay!" she actually hops in excitement, and I can feel excitement swelling in my chest as well as I watch her. Anna's emotions are always infectious to me, "I bought enough up for two, I hope you don't mind. I can take it to my room if you're getting dressed or something?"

"No, it's okay. We can have a picnic in here," I pause, then, as an afterthought, I tap her nose sternly as I add, "As long as you don't get crumbs in my bed again!"

Her giggle is worth it, and she hurries back my desk, pouring out two cups of tea and handing me one. I hold it beneath my chin, my skin especially sensitive to the heat as steam curls upwards and warms my face. I breathe it in, humming in appreciation as I smell the familiar scent of my favourite blend, "You used the tea from Corona? I thought we'd run out!"

"We had, but I asked the staff to send a message to Princess Rapunzel to bring more for your coronation, since you like it so much. I was going to surprise you with it that evening, after the party, but… well, things got a bit hectic, didn't they?"

She shrugs, brushing off the matter, like it means nothing. But it does.

I've never mentioned to her like I like Corona tea the best. Even when the door separated us, she managed to work out what tea I liked. Still determined to be my sister, not a stranger who shared my home but not my life. The question falls from my lips before I can stop it.

"But how..?"

"No one else in the castle drank tea, apart from me, Mama and Papa. After they died, the tea cabinet still ran out of that one long before it should have, if it had only been me drinking it. It didn't take much to figure it out," she looks down at her mug, embarrassed, "I was just trying to get to know you better."

"No, Anna. It's… That's so good of you. I'm lucky to have you."

Her tea is discarded upon the nearest flat surface, and she throws her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I feel myself flinch at the contact, the years of not touching another soul leaving a lasting impression upon me; the fear of causing her harm remains lodged in my subconscious, as I suspect it will for months, if not years to come. I feel frost form on the back of my hands, the panic breaking through my newly found control. But Anna knows this, through my whispered confession some weeks before at an impromptu sleepover in her room, and her arms around my back stop me from pulling away, and her quiet utterance of "it's okay," calm my heart rate, and the frost melts away. My arms curl around her, and I press a kiss to her cheek.

"Come on. We'd best get on with this picnic if I've got to be in this meeting by 9:30!" I pull back, grabbing her hand and pulling her to my bed, "Make yourself comfy - _not on my side you pest! _– and you can help me do my hair if you'd like, since you're all ready to go. It's a mess today."

Anna grins widely, flopping herself back onto my pillows, her legs still taking up a good proportion of the side she knows I prefer, "You look beautiful anyway Elsa. You should wear your hair like that for formal things, everyone knows you have that look now."

I blush at the compliment, and hand her both her tea and one of the jam filled pastries she brought up. I perch on the end of my bed, nibbling at a French bread thing with chocolate inside. "Yes well, I have a certain image to maintain as Queen unfortunately. I suppose it just helps me separate Elsa and the Queen of Arendelle, y'know? Anyway, looking formal keeps all those men in their place. Have you heard the latest gossip? Me being unfit as a single woman to keep the throne?!"

"Ugh, really? The last 'suitor' tried to kill us both, and it's none of their business who of if you date anyway!" Anna complained through a mouth full of food, "You'd think they'd move on from such silly ideas…"

"Indeed. Not that I have any plans to find myself anyone anytime soon."

Anna giggled softly, "You don't plan for it Elsa, it just happens! Like me and Kristoff!"

"_Like Kristoff and I_, Anna. There's no excuse for poor grammar."

"Shush you, don't avoid the point. But I know that's not your priority, so that's cool," the younger princess conceded, stuffing what remained of her breakfast into her mouth in one, decidedly unladylike go, "You're doing a great job as Queen all on your own."

Smiling broadly again, I unpick my braid quietly as Anna talks about her plans for the coming weekend. The simplicities of family life had been lost to me for years, but, by spending time with my sister, I find myself falling into them easily.

Like we've never been apart.

And I'm glad, thankful even, we can feel that way again.


	2. Turning a Page

"Woah!"

I hear the yelp of shock, and then the crash that follows mere moments after. My book is hastily discarded to the floor, and I hurry out of my room into the corridor, my eyes scanning from one end to the other as I try and work out where the noises came from.

Anna's voice pipes up from within one of the many rooms that span this wing of the castle, my own personal little library I'd asked Papa to build many years before, "Elsa? Are you there?" I can hear her pause for a moment, before I hear a defeated sigh, "Uh… Anyone?"

"I'm here," I shout back, quietly pleased that she'd yell for me first before any of the staff, "I'm coming!" My footfalls sound heavy, my jogging through the hallways lacking the decorum I'm used to displaying, until I reach the slightly ajar door. Peering inside, I practically feel myself double take when I see that most of my books have fallen to the floor, an arm sticking up haphazardly to meekly wave at me. I'm sure Mama would be appalled at the unladylike manner in which my mouth unceremoniously drops open.

"Um. Hi Elsa!" Anna calls, her voice slightly muffled from somewhere beneath the mound.

"What did you do?!" I manage to splutter eventually, "Are you alright?!"

"Nothing! Well, okay, I was climbing the book shelves to see what was at the top, just some dictionaries, by the way, and the shelves tipped and all the books fell out and I got caught up in them and fell. And now I'm buried!" She must have struggled beneath her papery prison, because a copy of The Lost Kingdom slides away and I see her face, slightly red – hopefully from embarrassment rather than injury – and she smiles sheepishly. I step into the room, and extend my hand towards hers, feeling her grip tighten around my wrist.

"Ready?"

She nods, "Ready."

"Okay, 3… 2…" I brace myself as I count down, my plan being to hoist her up out of the books and to her feet. But Anna, as always, has other ideas.

"Nope! Down you come Elsa!" Her other hand appears from beneath my copy of Arendelle's Fables and latches onto mine, pulling back with a force I didn't know my little sister could produce. Inelegantly, I slam down atop her, unable to stop my gasp of shock or the icicles that shoot from the floor around me.

"Anna!"

My indignant outburst is barely audible over the loud laughter radiating from the princess, and against my better judgement, I find myself giggling as well, overcome by the ridiculousness of the entire situation.

"So, did you enjoy your trip?" she manages to squeak out, her breath short from her bout of chuckling.

I frown, confused. I haven't left Arendelle in months, I've even barely left the castle in recent weeks, busy with meetings and paperwork, "Anna, what are you talking about?"

"You know, your_ trip_? When you went_ south_ for the _fall_?" The emphasis on her choice of words reveal the true nature of her question, and I roll my eyes at her attempt at humour.

"Puns? Really? Stop."

"Fine. Spoilsport!" she pouts, and drags herself more fully out of the pile. Or rather, she tries to, but my weight atop her combined with that of the books makes it difficult, and, after her silly game, I'm not feeling helpful enough to move, and but I am feeling just playful enough to watch her struggle for a few moments longer. She gives up with only the upper half of her torso free, and her arms cross as she glares at me, her frown not quite reaching her eyes, which sparkle with happiness.

Suddenly, I remember the ice that formed as I fell. I wave to vanish them away, not wanting them to melt and damage my collection. Well, I can already see scuffed covers and a few torn pages, but my priority is that Anna is okay, so I'm strangely happy the books cushioned her fall, no matter the damage they sustained.

"Did you pull me down just for the sake of those awful jokes?"

"… Maybe."

I sigh, exasperated. "I hate you."

"No, you don't," She taps my nose, and waggles her finger in my face, "You're a liar."

"You know me too well, little one," I concede, sitting up and shifting off the books, allowing my sister to wiggle free. We remain sat on the floor beside the mess, the fireplace's flickering light dancing on our pale skin. Her hair seems to be ablaze, her natural colour coming alive in the firelight.

"I'm not little anymore Elsa!" she moans dramatically, "I'm nearly 20, and engaged!"

"I don't care if Kristoff waltzed in here right now and you both suddenly turned 40. You'll always be my little sister," I wink and pinch her cheek, enjoying the quiet giggle it elicits from Anna, "And anyway, I'm taller."

"Hmph... Only because you wear heels," she grumbles. Her eyes soften, and she catches my eyes, "And you'll always be my big sister, y'know. And my best friend. Even when Kristoff and I are married."

I feel my heart swell at her words. My little sister; more grown-up than I dare to think about, and definitely more so than she realises.

"Love you Anna."

"Love you too Elsa."


End file.
